ROCKY RIVER, Ohio -- Vacant homes are scattered throughout the West Shore, but they're hard to find.

Rocky River and Westlake make it a priority to maintain vacant homes, and keep them looking as good as every other house on the block.

"We don't have any eyesores," Rocky River Mayor Pamela Bobst said. "We monitor these homes to make sure they don't fall into disrepair."

There are 12 vacant homes in Rocky River, according to city records.

Westlake doesn't track vacant homes, but Property Maintenance and Zoning Officer Thomas Blue estimates there are between 75 and 100 foreclosures in the city.

But those numbers pale in comparison to some cities like East Cleveland and Euclid, which both had more than 1,000 vacancies during the fourth quarter of last year, according to data compiled by the U.S. Postal Service that includes for sale homes and homes where owners may live somewhere else part of the year.

More than 22,000 homes in Cuyahoga County were vacant last fall, years after the end of the housing crisis. The severity of the problem varies, worse in the inner ring suburbs, especially on the east side. But abandoned homes affect everyone in the county, based on the proportion of the tax burden and the millions of tax dollars thrown at the problem.

According to vacancy data from the U.S. Postal Service, analyzed by the Northeast Ohio Community and Neighborhood Data for Organizing and Western Reserve Land Conservancy, over the last four years, Bay Village had the most vacancies in the West Shore. The data is from the fourth quarter each year.

City

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

Bay Village

148

128

114

103

113

Rocky River

107

80

68

86

78

Westlake

144

114

100

75

70

SAFEbuilt took over the Bay Village Building Department in 2013.

Foreclosure prevention

In 2004, Rocky River city officials began to notice an increase in foreclosures across the country and in their own backyard, due in part to predatory lending. The city stepped in and talked to residents about reconfiguring their home loans so they could afford to stay or maintain their properties.

Rocky River officials compiled a list of contractors, banks and mortgage companies to help residents before the problem "got out of hand."

"The health of the city depends on the security of our residents," Rocky River Residential Building Inspector Pat Nugent said. "If they're not scrambling to pay their mortgages and bills, then they are more secure. If they aren't in desperate straits, then they take better care of their homes."

Westlake also has a list of contractors posted on its website that residents can refer to.

"If you let something get out of whack, the whole neighborhood starts to feel it," Nugent said, "and if you can't fix something, the whole neighborhood feels the urge to move."

Tracking vacant homes

Rocky River employs a part-time maintenance inspector who regularly monitors foreclosures and Cuyahoga County Sheriff's sales. The inspector also checks for bank transfers on the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas website every month

The city keeps a detailed list of each vacant home, including address and reason it is vacant.

Of the 12 vacant Rocky River homes listed with the city, five are in foreclosure, another foreclosure case was dismissed last month, and another was removed from the list when the homeowner declared bankruptcy. The other homes are bank-owned, or owners live other places.

"Even though we have few foreclosures and vacant homes, whenever it happens in your community, on your street, it is significant. That's why we take the action we take," Bobst said.

An inspector goes to each vacant house in Rocky River every two weeks to make sure the properties are secure.

The Rocky River police, building and fire departments all keep an eye on vacant properties in the city, for safety and maintenance.

"The fire department needs to know if something should happen at that home, if they should be looking for people," Nugent said.

Maintenance

High grass is the first sign that a home is vacant, city officials said.

Rocky River and Westlake routinely cut high grass at vacant homes, and charge a fee on the property taxes. Rocky River charges around $30 for each cut, depending on the size of the lot, while Westlake charges a flat rate of $120 an hour.

The biggest problem with vacant homes in Westlake is high grass, which accounts for 90 percent of the vacant home-related complaints to the city, Property Maintenance and Zoning Officer Thomas Blue said.

"You're talking about half-million dollar homes and up," said Blue, a retired Westlake police officer. "It's the end of the world when the grass is six inches or higher."

Rocky River will clean up the yard and garage, and will get rid of any junk or hazardous waste, if necessary, for $30 an hour, also charged to the property taxes.

"Sometimes people pass away, move into assisted living, or they are evicted and there's junk left in the yard, and we'll come in and clean it up," Nugent said.

Westlake has the authority to fix anything on the exterior of the house or garage that violates the property code, including peeling paint, roof, gutters, downspouts and rotted windows. The owner has 30 days to comply or the city will fix it and put a lien on the property.

For Westlake residents who can't afford to fix or clean up around their homes, the city will call on community service groups, local churches or Eagle Scouts to help.

"If these properties aren't maintained, it affects the neighbors' property values, and if somebody is trying to sell their house, nobody is going to buy a house with a distressed value," Blue said. "It's just not fair to the neighbors who take care of their homes."